A lot has changed over the years.
I used to work at a mid sized healthcare facility in the mid to late 80's. A lot of us smoked and it really wasn't a big deal back then. It was pretty cool cause everybody got along. We would all get together and break for lunch at the same time in the break room. After the meal those of us who did smoke would light up and nobody thought anything of it.
It was a few years later that the higher ups directed us to build a wall and divide the break room into smoking and non smoking sections. Most of us still gathered in the smoker's section but there was less space. We still got along just fine and we would be laughing, joking, and enjoying each others company just as we always had. On the other side of the wall were a few of the higher ups. They never laughed and had fun. They just quietly ate their meal and then went back to work when their break was over.
I guess they must have been feeling a bit left out because they next directed us to tear down the wall and build a shelter outside where people could smoke after lunch.
( The higher ups used to refer to it as the "smoke house". )
Anyway ... we all ate quickly then headed outdoors. It was cold in the winter but it just gave us a reason to snuggle up together. It was all harmless fun but it was kinda nice to have a pretty young nurse sitting on your lap.
After awhile the job got sort of routine so i moved on to a better paying job that offered more challenges. I learned later that the higher ups had ordered the shelter demolished and declared it to be a non smoking campus.
It's sad .... it's not a very good place to work anymore. The jobs there don't pay very well and management has been targeting it's best long term (20 + yrs ) employees for termination to reduce labor costs. Nobody smiles and laughs anymore.
I guess the higher ups were determined to remake the world in their own image.
~ It's called social engineering. ~
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